Don't You Dare Cry [FFVII]
I felt like Tseng and Elena both needed a bit of attention from me. Thus, fluff was born.

Title: Don't You Dare Cry
Author: wei_jiangling
Pairing: Tseng/Elena
Rating: PG
Warnings: None.
Wordcount: 593

The first thing I see upon opening my eyes is white. Lots of white, and the occasional glint of metal. And then there’s blonde hair, framing very, very concerned brown eyes. I’m in a hospital room, and apparently Elena has been sitting here patiently waiting for me to wake up.

I’m awake now, Elena. Please stop looking at me like you’re about to cry. It hurts more than the wounds. There you go, smile.

“You’re awake,” you observe happily, and then the smile fades slightly. “How are you feeling?” Like a ton of bricks fell on every inch of my body, and like one of them was very sharp and left a big gash across my chest. Right, that was Sephiroth. Damn him.

“Been better,” I mutter. “How long have I been out?”

“Two days,” you inform me.

“Huh.” I look up at the ceiling, feeling just a little disoriented. Last I remember I was slumped against a pillar, more or less waiting to die. I don’t even know how the hell I got here. I suspect you don’t really either, so I don’t bother to ask. Unless you were part of it, but, well, I don’t really need to know. For some reason, I’m still alive. That’s good enough.

“You lost a lot of blood,” I hear you murmur, “I wasn’t sure if...” Your voice trails off and I my eyes focus on you again. You’re on the verge of tears again, dammit. Stop that.

“Elena.” Authoritative voice snaps you back to attention, like it always does. One word, in the right voice, and you listen more attentively than to a thousand words in the wrong one. Your personal version of discipline never ceases to astound me.

I smile, because it’s what you need to see.

“I’m alive. I’m here. I’m talking to you. You don’t need to worry about me, alright?” Voice is softer this time. Comforting voice, not authoritative voice. You nod at the words, and chew lightly on your bottom lip, which is for some reason exceptionally cute. But you’re not about to cry anymore, and that’s what I care about. You seem to understand.

Wonder if I can manage to sit up. Nope, not really. Ow.

Somewhere in there, Elena’s hand ended up on my shoulder. It feels nice.

“Don’t push yourself, okay?” I chuckle quietly in reply. I know what you mean, and I would have given the same advice were I in your shoes, but what a thing to say to an injured Turk. I want to be out of this place as soon as possible.

You seem confused about the laughing. I’ll just let you assume I’m a little high on whatever painkiller happens to be in my system at the moment. Probably the fault of that medicine that I’m still pretty sleepy, too. I yawn.

“You won’t freak out if I fall asleep again, right?” I’m tired, and frankly keeping my eyes open is a little difficult, but if it’s going to scare you, I’ll keep myself awake. I don’t want to see that sad face again.

You nod, and I close my eyes.

“I haven’t forgotten about dinner,” I murmur sleepily. “It’ll just have to be postponed to whenever I get out of here.” My eyes are closed, but I can almost feel you grinning, and it makes me smile a little, too.

“That sounds great.”

As I drift back to sleep, I wonder whether you’re still going to be there when I wake up again. But then I realize I know the answer.